Door closer



Sept- 24, 1957 l-l. L. GORDON I 2,807,043

DOOR CLOSER v Filed Aug. 20. 1954 'ull INVENTOR. Harry L. Gordn United States aten/g;

DOOR CLOSER Harry L. Gordon, Derby, Conn.

Application August 20, 1954, Serial No. 451,160

6 Claims. (Cl. 16-76) ment for such laborious installation, particularly where the door is already in place within its frame, it is obvious that Vit is desirable -to provide means for closing the door which does not necessitate removal of the door from its hinges.

YTo accomplish this in the past, comparatively expensive 4devices in the nature of hydraulic `door closers have been provided. Simple spring means for attachment to the door have also been provided. The drawback with such structures is that they require that something be attached to` the door, often making for unsightliness. Where spring means have been used,additional installation also has been required in order that the spring be retained in -operative position in relation to the door and its frame'. But even where anradditional xture or Ibracket is .attached for the purpose of holdingv the` spring means in position, such bracket often fails inV its contemplatedL operation, resulting in a failure of eiTective operation of the closer.

- yIt is the primary object of this linvention to provide a spring door closer which may -be installed in any'door which is already hung without removing the door from its mounting and which door closer will be securely held in loperative lposition without the necessity of installation of any additional bracket or fixtures. -T he manner in which this is to be done is by making the door closer of suc-h nature that it may -be incorporated directly into lthe existing hinge on the door. Firm anchorage of the door closer is provided by the use of the hinge pin as the anchoring means. The manner lof installation of the ydoor closer is very simple. The hinge pin is removed from the .door, passed through the door closer and reinserted into its positio-n in which it engages the plates of the hinge. It is well known that the conventional hinge pin is formed with a portion to engage the hinge plates and with a head portion to hold the engaging portion in place. It is contemplated in this invention that the head portion be made to fulfill a double purpose, that is to hold the hinge plate engaging portion of the hinge pin in position, and also to anchor the door closer in operative position.

A further object of this invention is so to construct the door closer that the head portion of the hinge pin when the door closer is installed, will be completely out of sight within the door rcloser. It will be appreciated that such .a construction will make for greater attractiveness of the unit after the door closer is installed. An object supplementing that just set forth is to provide a door closer which can accommodate within its interior the head 2,807,043 Patented Sept. 24, 1957 ice . 2 portion of .any hinge pin regardless of shape. Such construction is indicated in recognition of the fact that the head portions of different hinge pins vary in size. Some may generally be designated acorn shaped, while the head portion of a modern hinge may well be in the form simply of a flathead.

It is still :another object of this invention to provide means in the door closer structure whereby the spring pressure exerted by the door closer may -be varied. This is to be done by increasing the initial torsional stress upon the spring and the door closer.

The nal object of this invention is to provide a door closer which is simple in construction yet able effectively to carry out all of the foregoing objects. By prescribing simplicity, economy in fabrication will -be assured.

-How theseY and many other objects are to be impleimented will be made clear from a consideration of the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 shows an elevational view of a rst embodiment of a door cl-oser constructed according to this invention included` as part of .a convent-ional hinge;

Fig.' 2 shows Van enlarged View of the door closer and 'hinge pin head, as shown in Fig. l, with .a portion of the door closer broken away;

Fig. 3 shows a second embodiment of Ithe present invention;

Q Fig. 4 is a top View of the second embodiment, and

Fig. 5 is a section atV 5-5 of Fig. 4. f lIn the drawings is shown a door 1i) hung in a door `frame 11, thehinging means being a hinge 12 of known construction. The hinge 12 has hinge plates 13 and 14 secured to the door framel and door respectively. vHinge pin 15 engages hinge plates 13 and 14. The hinge pin 15 consists of the hinge engaging portion 16 and a heady the hinge. The door :closer 20 consists of4 a helical tor-V sion `spr-ing 21 having one turnr22`of smaller diameter than that of the balance of the spring. `Thedianreter of portion 22 of the door closer -is smallerthan the diameter of head portion l1'7 of thehingepin, yet larger than hinge engaging portion 16fof` the hinge` pini. The balance ofthe helical spring 21 is of adiameter large enough to accommodate head portion 1 7 of` hinge pin 15j Furthermore, the axial extent of helical spring 21 isgreater than that of the corresponding Vdimension of headportion 17 of the hinge pin. Thus it will be appreciated that the hinge pin of a conventional door hinge may lbe removed, the hinge engaging portion` passed through the helical springv 21 so that head portion 17 of the hinge pin15 will ybe, completely conta-in-ed'withinl the helical spring`21, and .the bottom of head portion 17 will abut against turn 22o'f the helical spring.

- ExtendingA in either direction from the helical spring are .arms 23Y and 24, arm 23 bearing against door frame 11 and arm 24 lbearing against door 1). Ine-operation it is obvious that the opening of door 10 wil-l move arm 24 of the door closer backwardly to increase the torsional force exerted `by helical spring 2l and transmitted through arm 24 to door l0 as a compressive force, so that when door 10 is opened the door closer will oper-ate to urge it to resume its closed position.

In the second embodiment lshown in Figs. 3, 4, and 5, the :door closer, generally designated 20, includes a helical spring 21 having the arms 23 and 24, the spring being contained within -a tubular casing 27. The casing is closed at one end except for an aperture 28 in the bottom of said casing through which the hinge engaging portion 16 of hinge pin 15 may be inserted, but through which head portion 17 of hinge pin 15 will not pass. -To assemble the spring 21 into the casing 27, arm 23 of the spring 21 is introduced into slot 31, and the spring is MM intothezcasing until arm 23 reaches a posifm Where it is free to move within the iootedportion 32 of slot 31. Arm 23 thus extends from the assembly to Contact door frame 11. Arrn 24 of the spring 21 is m thecasing 2.7,"thus-extendingv lfrom the lspring .@tdnonis-inanyjivenposition. ,This may be done simply lby pg'iidinga threadedeye'25 `near the extremity of {nonghwhieh'eyeis threaded a stud 26, the disiiiliagtaf,tletstudv being substantially-:normal in reladit.:` door. Thus, when stud .26 is threaded inthedoor-while the door is closed the spacbetween Varm and door will be increased, and

Y the torsinnalforce exertedby helical spring 421 and trans- NAarm 24 will be increased while the door ilfmithafcledposition. Arm 23 maybe similarly adjusted bya stud 26 threaded into an eye 25 at its exlnd contacting door frame 11.

While [have described two specific embodiments of itis apparent that changes and modifications may he mede therein without Vdeparting'from the spirit of myhvention.

i Lf-A doorfcloserfforuse with a door hinge having a with a hinge engaging portion and va head portion hner-diameter than said hinge engaging portion,

` g -V sindical-spring having a pair of larms lextendfor engagement with a door and a door door being hung on` said door frame by said wrtkrstlof said arms being capable of exerting a i i kfome against said door in its normal closed the second capable of exerting a lcompressive -frame from which said'door is hung, ahlplnnerthat'when said door is opened the comexerted {bysaid rst armagainst-said door door to resume-its normalrclosed a tubular casing .axially enveloping .said closed at one end except for an `through which said hinge-engaging porhinge pin passes, but through which said H gof said hinge pin cannot pass the closed end between said head portion v pin and `said door hinge, whereby-said door --be locked in operative position relative to amend-door frame, and slot means insaid casing through which one of said arms extends, said slot means Iinsertion of .said springinto its operative to` said `door and said frame within nidelltmY l rtqlguntact the doorfpanelfill). -Thusfthe .arms-wand ma fname foperate -in the isamemanner as heretofore 2. The Vdoor closer claimed in claim l'wherein `the axial length of said c-asing is .at least as great as the axial length of .said spring.

3. The door closer claimed in claim 1 wherein the axial length of said Icasing is .at least .as great as the axial length of said spring, and the axial length of said lspring is greater than that of the head portion of said hinge pin, whereby said .head portion is completely surrounded axially by said casing.

4. In a door hinge including ahinge pin having a hinge engaging portion .and a head portion of largerv diameter than said hinge enga-ging portion, a door closer comprising a helical spring having a pair of arms extending therefrom for engage-ment with a door and a door frame, said `door being hung on said door frame by said hinge, the first of said arms being capable of exerting a compressive force against said door in its normal closed position and the second capable of exerting a compressive force against the frame from-which said door is hung, in=such manner that when said dooris openedthe compressive force vexerted by said iirst arm against said door is increased urging said door to resume itsnormal closedposition, and 'a tubular casing axially enveloping-said spring, said casing-being closedat one end except Ifor an aperture therein through which .said hinge-engaging portion of said hinge pin passes, but through which said-head portion of said hinge pin cannot pass the closedend of said vcasing being disposed between said head portion of said'hinge pinand said door hinge, the other end of said casing being open, whereby said door closer may be locked in operative position relative to said doorand door frame, and slot means in said easing comprising an axial slot having a eircumferentially extending footed portion .through -which one `ofV said arms extends, said axial -slotfextending into the-open end of said casing, whereby said spring may be inserted into its operative relation with respectto said door and Viframe withinI said casing.

5. The door closer claimed in claim 4 vwherein the axial length of said casing is at least as great as the -axial length of said spring and completely surrounds said head portion of said hinge pin.

6. The door closer claimed in claim 4 wherein the axial length of said casing is at least .as great as the axial length of said spring, and-the axial length of said spring is greater than that of the head portion of said hinge pin,'whereby said head portion is-.completely surrounded axially by said casing.

References Citedt in thevle of this patent v UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,145,73 1| Wirth July-6, v191:5 1,215,498 Dietz Feb. 13, 1917 1,588,024 Habart June 8,11926 FOREIGN PATENTS 15,208 Denmark Oct. 23, 1913 456,278 Canada May 3, 1949 

